


Ashes and Dust

by tsukinofaerii



Series: Otherworld [1]
Category: Marvel
Genre: Alternate Universe, Gen, Vampires
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-10-31
Updated: 2009-10-31
Packaged: 2017-10-08 06:31:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 414
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/73699
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tsukinofaerii/pseuds/tsukinofaerii
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tony says goodbye to his mother.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Ashes and Dust

The moonlight was bright and clear over the water, without a cloud in the sky to hide the stars. They glittered off Lady Liberty, who lifted her torch to the sky in welcome. Tony clutched his mother's urn and watched the moonlight dance over the ripples. He still couldn't believe she was gone, simply walked into the sun, as if she hadn't had a son at all. As if they hadn't known his father would die one day. Howard Stark had been human—_adamantly_ human. He'd refused every chance Maria had given him to become a vampire, and look what it had caused.

Tony didn't think he'd ever forgive his father for being so selfish. If he'd just accepted, Tony wouldn't be there, hold his mother's remains. He was only nineteen. How was he supposed to do this alone?

"Master Anthony?" Jarvis faded into view in front of him, hands folded. He'd appeared on the waterline, so the little waves that rolled up the short crashed through his ghostly ankles, unaffected by the spirit standing in them. "Mr. Rhodes asked me to check on you."

Somehow, Tony dug up a wane smile, but it vanished as soon as he looked down at the ashes. "I'm... fine, thank you, Jarvis."

Jarvis drew up his legs, sitting atop thin air, his head tilted back. Moonlight seemed to shimmer off of him, making him glow more than usual. "I remember when your mother said farewell to your grandfather. It was on this very shore, some two centuries past. It seems your family always returns to this place, in one form or another."

Tony's hand clenched around the urn. "I miss her, Jarvis. How could she..?"

The ancient retainer bowed his head silently.

If she hadn't fallen in love with a human, if she hadn't let herself grow attached and then bonded, if she hadn't let Howard have his way, she would still be there. Tony knew that, the way he could feel the sun rise and set in his bones. "... I won't do what she did, Jarvis. No mortal could be worth it. No one."

The urn was gold, sealed tight against the water and heavy enough that when Tony heaved it, it barely achieved any arc at all before it splashed into the bay. He watched the ripples spread, and imagined it taking his promise down with it, where the waves and his mother would keep it safe.

When he died, he wouldn't leave anyone behind.


End file.
